Under the Western Freeway is the debut studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Grandaddy

Grandaddy

Grandaddy was an American indie rock band, formed in 1992 in Modesto, California by singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch. Guitarist Jim Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden later joined the band in 1995...

, released in October 1997 on Will Records. The album was released in the UK in April 1998 by Big Cat Records

Big Cat Records

Big Cat Records is a UK record label. It launched around 1990 and originally specialized in industrial and noise-rock releases. Operated a US office in NYC for a few years. Purchased by V2 Records in 1996, at which point their roster became much more diverse in style...

, and later reissued in the US by Big Cat's parent company V2 Records

V2 Records

V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....

.

The track titled "A.M. 180

A.M. 180

"A.M. 180" is a single by American indie rock band Grandaddy from their debut studio album, Under the Western Freeway, released in 1998. It was originally titled "Rocket Like a Hurricane" before release....

" was used in the film 28 Days Later

28 Days Later

28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...

, and the 2000 movie American Virgin

American Virgin

American Virgin may refer to:*American Virgin , a 2000 film starring Mena Suvari*American Virgin , a 2009 comedy film starring Rob Schneider...

. It was also used as the theme tune for the British TV show Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...

.

Track listing

Reception

Allmusic gave the album a four star rating, noting similarities to Pavement

Pavement (band)

Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

 and Weezer

Weezer

Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...

, and described it as "a fairly brilliant album, combining a warm, earnest, and rustic feel with sometimes goofy experimentation". CMJ New Music Monthly

CMJ New Music Monthly

CMJ New Music Monthly was a monthly music magazine with interviews, reviews, and special features. Each issue included a compact disc with 15 to 24 songs by well established bands, unsigned bands, and everything in between...

described it as "an eccentric psych-pop collection". Andy Gill, writing for The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

called it "one of the most beguiling debuts of the year...a fortuitous collision of Brian Wilson, Neil Young and the Pixies which throws out a stream of understated pop gems".

Credits

• Recorded and mixed at Floater and Headcorders in Modesto and Coulterville, California.